(ridiculous author at large)

hep alien

So I’ve been rewatching The Gilmore Girls lately. I mean, I have to have something to do while my spouse plays endless hours of Fortnite, and I can only be a genius writer for so many hours in the day before I need to turn my brain off and stare at the television for a while.

Anyway. MUCH is made of Lorelai and Rory’s relationship. It’s the fun one! They eat whatever they want. They *DO* whatever they want, whenever they want. It’s a non-stop fun-fest with these Gilmore ladies. Unpopular opinion: I prefer Lane and Mrs. Kim’s relationship.

Why? Well, I’m up to the episode where Lane thinks that her band is going to break up. They’re all mired in the endless tedium of everyday life. They’ve barely practiced lately. It seems as if Hep Alien is, indeed, finished.

Until Lane goes to her mother.

Now, there are multiple representations of motherhood in this show. It’s very well documented. However, I’ve really appreciated Lane and Mrs. Kim’s relationship this time around. When I was younger and watching this show the first time around, I found the entire thing to be comical, and it’s clearly played for laughs. What I didn’t fully grasp was Mrs. Kim’s deep love for her daughter. When Lane goes home and sits down to discuss the band’s seemingly imminent demise, I caught a gleam Emily Kuroda‘s eyes that I’d never noticed before. It hit me then that, while Mrs. Kim may not approve of the life that her daughter has chosen, it is very clear that she loves and is proud of her trailblazer daughter. This is hammered home when Mrs. Kim announces that Lane is not the daughter that she raised, and that Kims don’t quit.

And then? When Mrs. Kim bursts into the band’s apartment with her master plan for Hep Alien to go on tour for two months? I almost cried with happiness. Plus the part where she cites Prince’s successes made me giggle more than a little. It speaks to a side of Mrs. Kim that we never see. Maybe Lane wasn’t the only Kim woman with a hidden music collection in that house.